The markets on the Wards was always popular for the residents and visitors from other parts of the galaxy for the wide variety of products that they could buy, for a select few members of the galaxy however who's needs related to porn there were a few shops that they could go to on Tayseri Ward alone and one such place was Trallins, a popular Elcor run porn shop.
And at the moment its latest customers were four C-Sec officers.
"Are we really going to enter a porn store as part of an investigation?" Katherine asked as she got out of the car alongside Francis whilst Anola and Varnus waited by the door. "I know you said that the guy who runs the place is one of your contacts but it still feels weird."
"And that's not even touching upon the fact that the place is run by an Elcor." Francis nodded in agreement before pausing for a moment. "Pun not intended."
"Yeah but look at it this way." Anola responded as the two humans approached the door. "The Ardat-Yakshi has already killed two people, three if you count Roberto, any lead that leads to her arrest is a good one in my book."
"I hear you, it's just a lot to take in that's all." Francis nodded in response before he turned to the building which was a fairly large one with a hot pink neon sign on the front with the shop's name next to what looked like a naked Asari. "Where are we meeting the owner anyway?"
"Round the back." Anola commented before glancing up at the sign. "How did I manage to miss that sign the first time I met Trallin with that big, gaudy sign on the front? It's not exactly a small building either." Anola wondered before shaking her head and following the others into the shop, the four officers ignored the various things on sale as they made their way to the counter which was unoccupied.
"You'd think he'd be here waiting for us." Francis commented and Varnus shook his head.
"If the thing he has for us is the video of Chelsea's murder he's likely setting it up." Varnus responded before the unmistakably heavy steps of an Elcor rang out and the four officers looked up seeing Trallin standing there. "You must be Trallin."
"Polite greeting, hello there officers, I am glad that you have come." Trallin commented before motioning for them to follow him to the back, the officers did so making sure to keep their distance from Trallin's feet. "Grimly, the video arrived this morning, a young Asari in a hoodie and jeans delivered the package."
"That's probably the Ardat-Yakshi's outfit for when she's not on the prowl for victims." Anola thought as they followed Trallin towards a video player where a Volus stood by. "Can you describe her?"
"Sadly, I cannot give a full description, the hood of her top was up and covering most of her face." Trallin said as he turned to Anola. "I almost mistook her for a human woman until I saw her blue skin."
"Did she say anything about the video?" Katherine chimed in and Trallin turned to her.
"Explanatory, she described it as a home video that would attract a lot of attention, I do regularly get ammeter productions and I often view them myself to see if it's good enough to sell." Trallin said before nodding to the Volus who popped the video in and pressed play, the video showed the Ardat-Yakshi making out with Chelsea whilst the latter was handcuffed to the bed, both women where naked though at the angle it was showing you couldn't see very much. "At first it looked like a typical lesbian kink vid but things take a dark turn at around the halfway mark."
"Would you mind skipping to that part?" Anola requested and the Volus nodded before fast forwarding it. "Wait, is that video length accurate?"
"Yes, it is four hours long, which is why it took me so long to contact you." Trallin nodded in response as the video showed, from an angle right above Chelsea's head this time, the Ardat-Yakshi getting ready to go down on Chelsea but unbeknownst to Chelsea the Ardat-Yakshi used her biotics to grab a knife from the kitchen. "Cautionary, I advise Anola and the female human to brace yourselves."
"My name's Katherine and I've seen a lot in….." Katherine's thoughts trailed off as Chelsea's sexual moans quickly turned into screams of pain. "Please tell me that she didn't do what I think she just did?"
"I'm afraid she just did." Varnus commented with a grimace as the Ardat-Yakshi started torturing Chelsea with the knife. "So, Trokus was wrong, the genital mutilation happens when the victim is still alive."
"Can you please not mention that again?" Anola asked with a wince as the torture continued. "She obviously had more than one camera set up in the room, did CSU find any hidden cameras?"
"I'll ask when we get back to HQ." Varnus responded as the camera angle changed again this time to right over the Ardat-Yakshi's shoulder.
"Okay, so she's ripping off pieces of Chelsea's flesh and showing it to her, just when I thought I saw it all in the hundred years that I've been a police officer." Anola commented with a disgusted look on her face as the Ardat-Yakshi continued her torture. "If it weren't for the fact that Chelsea's bedroom is soundproof she might be alive right now."
"Yeah, someone would've heard her screams and tried to intervene, assuming that her door wasn't locked." Francis commented before he noticed something as the camera angle changed to the one right above Chelsea's head. "Wait, is it me or is the Ardat-Yakshi…..getting off as she tortures Chelsea?" Francis asked with a look of disgust on his face. "I'm definitely glad that I skipped out on breakfast this morning."
"Trallin, we don't have four hours to waste and I'd rather not lose my appetite, can you skip to Chelsea's murder?" Varnus requested and Trallin nodded before the Volus hit the fast forward button until the Ardat-Yakshi climbed atop the heavily bleeding and obviously dying Chelsea having tossed the knife aside, the camera angle was again right over the Asari's shoulder showing that Chelsea's facial expression was showing a mix of fear, anger and pain.
"What's the matter?" The Ardat-Yakshi asked with a sadistic grin on her face. "I thought that this was what you wanted? I told you that things would get a little extreme in the bedroom and you didn't mind."
"Fuck you!" Chelsea yelled out in spite of the pain before spitting in the Ardat-Yakshi's face, the Ardat-Yakshi used her hand to wipe away the spit before placing her hands on Chelsea's cheeks.
"Close your eyes and relax Chelsea." The Ardat-Yakshi said as her biotics flared up, a moment Anola quickly recognized as the mind meld. "Embrace oblivion!"
"What the…." Chelsea never finished her thought before the Ardat-Yakshi performed the mind meld, Chelsea let out one last, horrified scream before her body went limp and the video faded to black.
"Looks like that's that…..wait, there's still ten minutes in the video." Katherine realized and Trallin nodded.
"This is why I called you here most of all." Trallin said as the video then showed the Ardat-Yakshi again, the video was obviously taped sometime after Chelsea's murder as the Asari was dressed in a hoodie and jeans with the hood covering her face aside from her mouth and lower jaw and it was clearly in another section of the Wards.
"Enjoy the show C-Sec? I knew that the murder of that pathetic con-man would get your attention!" The Ardat-Yakshi asked with a grin on her face. "I have been to many worlds detectives and I have killed many, what makes you think that an aging Turian, an Asari barely a hundred years older than me and a couple of washed up Alliance veterans can stop me? Oh yes, I know all about you!" The Ardat-Yakshi said with a sadistic grin on her face. "Roberto? Felix? Chelsea? They were small fry, nothing more than a way for me to get my message across to you, that I'm unstoppable."
"She certainly has a high opinion of herself, doesn't she?" Francis commented with a frown as he watched the vid.
"Those three idiots were just the appetizer and pretty soon I'll be moving on to my entrée! It won't matter what my next target has done to earn their record because I will go after them all and who knows? Maybe I'll go after the real criminals like the Citadel Council?" The Ardat-Yakshi taunted them with the same grin on her face. "Do you think you can stop me detectives? Only Athame herself can stop me and somehow I don't think you fit the bill!" The Ardat-Yakshi added before the video cut out.
"I can confirm that that was the same Asari who handed the tape in." Trallin added as he turned to the officers. "If you want the video for evidence you can have it, I've seen a lot in my line of work but that was something else."
"That makes five of us." Katherine responded with a shudder as Varnus took the video from the Volus and put it in an evidence bag. "Who was she talking about at the end there? Athame?"
"Every time I say the word "goddess" that's who I'm referring too." Anola explained as she folded her arms. "To keep it brief, she along with her guides Janiri and Lucen are credited for bringing enlightenment to ancient Asari and Athame in particular is credited for teaching them mathematics and medicine, in short she's basically asking God to strike her down."
"That aside, we're missing the most important part." Varnus said as he turned to the other officers. "She said that she had killed on other worlds, I'm almost tempted to say that it was her obvious god complex talking but who knows for certain?"
"Only one person we know off and she could be anywhere right now." Anola responded before thinking of something. "It's a long shot but do you think McKenna could narrow down where she taped the last part of that video from?"
"It's possible, she has lived on the Wards her entire life." Varnus responded as he started to scratch his chin in thought. "I was going to hand this in to her anyway, to see if she saw something we missed since we skipped over most of the video and yes, I will warn her about the content of the video."
"Might want to warn Reya and the other female Quarians whilst you're at it." Francis responded before frowning. "Even if this Asari has killed on other worlds that doesn't narrow it down, it's a massive galaxy out there and even if we narrow it down to Asari space based on Anola's info that's still a lot of ground to cover."
"I have one idea, we can have Trokus widen the search to Asari space." Varnus responded with a nod before turning to Trallin. "Thank you for your help Trallin, if anything else comes up you have Anola's number but for now we had better get back to HQ."
"Politely, it was my pleasure officers, please ensure that that Asari is brought to justice." Trallin responded and the four officers left the shop as quickly as they could before entering their patrol cars.
"I didn't bring it up in the shop because of the nature of my line of thought." Anola commented as she buckled up. "But what if she wasn't lying about killing people on other worlds before she settled on the Citadel?"
"That just raises several questions." Varnus responded as he started to drive off. "If she is wanted for murder then how did she get passed the scanners? Unless her condition has gone undiagnosed like the Ardat-Yakshi you arrested on Thessia there's no way that she should've been allowed past the scanners."
"Unless she used the merchant vessel loophole like Andrea's crew did." Anola commented with a frown. "Let's look at the facts, assuming that she didn't steel it we know that the Ardat-Yakshi comes from a wealthy Asari family based on the fact that she picked up Chelsea in an expensive Skycar and that she has access to Tikagen X."
"Such a drug would likely only be available in the Terminus Systems through the Black Market." Varnus nodded in agreement before thinking for a moment. "How many Asari colonies are in the Terminus Systems?"
"Is that counting Ilium?" Anola asked and Varnus nodded prompting Anola to think for a moment. "There's a few that I know off, mostly due to having relatives who live there, but humans have a lot more colonies in the Terminus." Anola responded as she shifted her weight. "Then again the three victims that we know off were humans, two men and one women, maybe we can start our search on human colonies?"
"It's a long shot and that's assuming that they'll even speak to C-Sec." Varnus responded with a frown before realizing something. "If she has killed on other worlds before she settled on the Citadel then maybe it's time we got the council involved?"
"Varnus, that would require some solid, bullet-proof proof that she has killed on other worlds and I know that she said that she'll go after the council but there's no way in hell that she'll get close enough to even buy a council member a drink, let alone go back to their place for sex." Anola pointed out with a frown. "The only way I can see her pulling it off is if she went after the Asari Councillor's daughter, we both know that she has a record and a history of cheating on her husband."
"And he won't dare risk divorcing her out of fear for his political career." Varnus nodded in response. "Still when we get to C-Sec I'll have Jackson and McKenna look for Terminus System worlds that have strong black market presence and start out search there, in the meantime we'd better get that tape to McKenna." Varnus added before driving off.
*meanwhile*
The docks often saw ships coming in from other parts of the galaxy and today was no exception, however one particular ship was just docking at one of the docks and it had come from the Terminus Systems.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking." Sardir commented sarcastically as he typed away at his laptop. "We have just arrived on the Citadel, expect regulations up the ass and be on the lookout for any bribable C-Sec officers."
"We're not actually going to bribe a C-Sec officer right?" Ricky asked as she shifted her weight, being the main tech support of the group the two mercenaries were currently sharing a room and Sardir shook his head.
"Lighten up Ricky, it's a joke." Sardir responded and Ricky rolled her eyes. "Why do you go by the name Ricky anyway? I thought your first name was Taylor?"
"Could've sworn I already told you." Ricky responded and Sardir shook his head. "It's simple really, my surname's Richards but I'm such a tomboy that my friends took to calling me Ricky." Ricky explained as she typed away at her laptop. "It kinda stuck, hell even my adoptive parents call me Ricky nowadays."
"Oh yeah, you were adopted by an Asari and her partner, weren't you?" Sardir asked and Ricky nodded. "How'd that come about? I was under the impression that Asari usually didn't adopt human kids?"
"Usually they don't but it was a different time when they adopted me, namely the Reaper War." Taylor responded with a sigh. "I was barely a month old at the time and my parents were among the casualties of the Cerberus Coop, I ended up being adopted and moved to Ilium with my parents after the war."
"Hard to believe it's only been twenty years since the entire galaxy collectively shit themselves because an army of sovereigns were invading." Sardir commented with a chuckle and Ricky frowned. "Anyway, no we won't be bribing any officials, Crarnus and B'Tal are handling the official documents and stuff since they are the pilots and what not."
"Good, it wouldn't feel right in my mind." Taylor responded as she typed away at her laptop. "The only reason Cerberus didn't kill me was because two Turian C-Sec officers saved me and got me to safety, I've kinda had a respect for C-Sec ever since."
"Yeah, I can see why too, those guys were just doing their jobs but they still saved you." Sardir responded and Ricky nodded in agreement. "So, you still keep in contact with them or…"
"I was a baby at the time, I didn't learn that I was saved by Turian officers until I was seventeen." Ricky pointed out and Sardir nodded. "Still, using my hacking skills I did learn who they were, one's still in the force but the other kinda dropped off the radar a couple of years later."
"That's weird." Sardir commented as he scratched his helmet. "What could you find out about them?"
"Only that it was a female Turian called Tidosis, rest of the records are sealed and my hacking skills aren't up to scratch to break the encryption." Taylor explained and Sardir paused.
"Tidosis, wasn't that the name of the Turian Spectre who approached us on Omega after the Reya job?" Sardir thought as he typed away at his laptop. "My Shadow Broker agent buddy was able to confirm that she was a former C-Sec officer who served during the Reaper War and got accepted after a high profile arrest, could it be the same person?"
"Is this thing on?" Karen's voice rang out from Sardir's computer and the Quarian frowned when he heard her and opened up the video chat. "Oh great, I get to deal with the perverted Quarian."
"Great to see you too Karen." Sardir responded with obvious sarcasm in his voice. "Do you want an update or are you calling just to annoy me."
"I want an update." Karen said bluntly and Sardir sighed.
"We just arrived on the Citadel, our pilots are sorting out the legal stuff so we should be free to move around within the hour." Sardir responded and Karen nodded. "We did a little digging into the target and she's already killed some people, mostly low level criminals with active sexual history."
"I know about that, that's why Marcello gave you the job." Karen responded with a nod. "What about the victims? I want files on them."
"If you know about them, why do you want files?" Sardir asked and Karen frowned.
"That's on a need to know basis and Krogan will be narrating nature documentaries before you need to know that." Karen responded and Sardir sighed.
"Fine, I'll send you the files later but I'll have to warn you, the second victim is a woman and she brutalized her." Sardir responded and Karen raised an eyebrow. "We don't exactly get along but still, I wouldn't advise eating anything before you read that file."
"I'll keep that in mind, that's all for now." Karen responded and Sardir minimized the chat.
"I swear that woman is the hottest chick that I don't want to bang because she's such a bitch." Sardir grunted under his breath only for the chat to come back up.
"I heard that!" Karen said before the video chat closed.
*later on at C-Sec*
"So let me get this straight." Bayley commented with a frown as he looked at the two officers who had just relayed what they had found out at the porn store. "The Ardat-Yakshi taped her murder of Chelsea Francs for the sole purpose of making sure that we would get her message which was basically a typical serial killer taunt?"
"Essentially yes." Anola commented as she folded her arms. "But since viewing the tape I can't help but wonder about a couple of things."
"Like what?" Bayley asked as he sat down.
"For starters she name dropped the three victims we know about, that can only mean that she's seeking out these victims particularly and will do the same when she targets another victim." Anola commented with a frown. "The other thing was that just before she killed Chelsea she climbed on top of her in the same way that a lover would during sex."
"And whilst the night did start off with sex between the two women it didn't exactly end that way." Varnus added as he shook his head. "What we're getting at is that by that point Chelsea was bleeding heavily from the wounds that the Ardat-Yakshi had inflicted on her, she would've been covered head to toe in Chelsea's blood."
"And yet no one reported seeing an Asari walk around the wards covered in human blood?" Bayley asked and the two officers nodded. "I don't care if she was a prostitute living in the Red Light District, no one deserves to die like that and I expect the two of you and Katherine and Francis to treat her like any other victim." Bayley added and the two officers nodded. "Speaking of which, Chelsea was hardly the only prostitute working that night, someone had to have seen her killer."
"We're working on that angle, unfortunately the only two witnesses we have were an Asari prostitute who was with her client all night and her client who originally approached Chelsea for her services." Varnus commented with a frown. "Related to my earlier comment, Trokus did find Asari DNA from where she climbed atop Chelsea but it didn't turn up any matches."
"So even with the tape she's still a Jane Doe." Anola added before taking a deep breath. "McKenna and her team currently have the unenviable task of going through the footage so hopefully they'll be able to find something."
"Remind me to buy them a well-deserved drink when the case is over." Bayley responded with a grimace as Trokus walked up to them. "Something up Trokus?" Bayley asked and the officers turned to the coroner.
"I did as you said, extended my search for similar victims to other planets within Council Space and the Terminus Systems and kept in mind that the genital mutilation happened whilst the victim was alive." Trokus responded with a grim look on his face. "I even called back the coroner on Thessia just to be thorough."
"Judging by the look on your face it isn't good news." Bayley responded and Trokus nodded.
"That depends on your definition of good news." Trokus responded as he showed them his data-pad. "Even Thessia's coroner was shocked by the extent of the cruelty that Chelsea had suffered at the Ardat-Yakshi's hands and she's been in this business a lot longer than I have, even keeping my short life span in mind, but here's what she and several others were able to confirm our worst fears."
"She has killed on other worlds?" Varnus asked once it hit him and Trokus nodded, Varnus looked at the long list of coroner's reports and frowned. "Save me some time here, how many victims has she killed counting the three we know about?"
"Around fifty and before you ask I don't know how she was able to hop from world to world without being caught." Trokus responded as he shook his head. "That's not even all the coroners I contacted, some were unable to get back to me."
"Let us know as soon as they get back to you." Bayley instructed him and Trokus nodded before walking off, the two officers turned to Bayley who sighed. "I think it'll be in our best interest to tell the council about this."
"In other words, get a Spectre involved." Varnus responded with a frown. "No offence Bayley but we can handle this on our own."
"That may be but this might be bigger than C-Sec if these reports are accurate." Bayley responded as he started to walk off. "I'll tell the human councillor about our findings and see what she can do about it, I'm not saying that you two and Katherine and Francis are bad at your jobs but I'd rather not have someone else be tortured to death by a sadistic Asari on my watch." Bayley added before walking off.
*meanwhile*
In spite of the terror gripping the wards courtesy of the Ardat-Yakshi life went on for the residents of the Wards whether they were out shopping, going to work or stopping at a café for a bite to eat and Raymundo's was one such place.
The small café looked like any other place on the wards and it was more of a diner than anything else, still the good food and customer service kept customers coming back even if they were there for other reasons.
"Hi there, welcome to Raymundo's." The human waiter greeted the customer as she entered the diner, it was a young, wheelchair bound woman with shoulder length dark brown hair in a ponytail and blue eyes behind a pair of reading glasses who was dressed in an Iron Maiden t-shirt and jeans. "Do you need me to clear some space for your wheelchair ma'am?"
"It's all right." The woman responded with an English accent as she pushed her glasses up her nose. "My carer can take care of that for me." She added as she motioned towards the older human woman behind her.
"Off course." The waiter nodded before taking them to a table, the woman's carer moved a chair to the side so that she could park her wheelchair whilst the waiter grabbed a menu. "Can I get you something to drink?"
"Tea please." The woman responded with a nod before turning to her carer. "What about you Joyce?"
"I'll have a tea as well." Joyce responded and the waiter nodded before walking off once he got their orders down, once they were alone the woman reached into a laptop bag that was hanging off the back of her chair and retrieved the laptop inside. "Do you need help with that Rachel?"
"I've set up this thing enough times for me to do it blindfolded." Rachel responded as she set up the laptop. "But thanks for the offer." Rachel added as she lifted the laptop's lid and signed in. "Off all the weeks for my apartment to be fumigated for insects! Didn't even know that you could get insects on the Citadel!" Rachel thought as she read through some Word documents. "Still, the world of information broking stops for no-one and certainly not an Ardat-Yakshi." Rachel thought before a vid chat pop up appeared on her screen and she plugged in a pair of headphones with a microphone attached to it before putting them on. "Iron Maiden here, what the word?" Rachel asked as she opened up the video chat.
"The Ardat-Yakshi is getting reckless." The Volus on the other end responded in between deep breaths. "I suppose you've heard of the state her last victim was found in?"
"What do you take me for? A rookie?" Rachel asked sarcastically as she leaned back. "Just because C-Sec left out the details of the prostitute's death doesn't mean that the info isn't there to be gathered." Rachel added and the Volus nodded. "And I suppose you're talking about the video she handed over to that adult film store?"
"Well, yes, I do work there, remember?" The Volus asked and Rachel nodded in response. "I have to tell you Rachel, this Ardat-Yakshi is one sadistic bitch."
"I gathered that from what I could learn of the prostitute's death." Rachel responded as the waiter returned with two cups of tea which the two women happily took. "What about Yusk? We both know that he's a likely target of the Ardat-Yakshi given what we know of her victims so far." Rachel added and the Volus shook his head.
"I haven't been able to get in contact with him since C-Sec broke up a potential bar fight between him and another Krogan." The Volus added and Rachel frowned. "If it was any other week I would chalk it up to Yusk being Yusk, especially since he only just got out of jail on parole, but with the recent events….."
"Have you talked to the other agents?" Rachel interrupted him and the Volus shook his head.
"I was about too but then I remembered about your daily check-in." The Volus responded as Rachel took a sip of her tea. "Have you tried your agent in C-Sec?"
"If you mean McKenna well, she was never an official agent, just a friend who needed a favour or two." Rachel responded as she took another sip. "I do plan on extending my resources to C-Sec if Yusk does get killed by the Ardat-Yakshi but I'm hoping that it won't come to that."
"I still don't understand why you ceased contact with her." The Volus commented and Rachel frowned. "She could've been a valuable asset."
"Have you ever heard of the early 21st century movie called The Dark Knight?" Rachel asked and the Volus hesitated before nodding. "There's one quote that movie I've come to live by since I started operating as the Iron Maiden, if your good at something, never do it for free."
"Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't that a quote from the villain of that movie?" The Volus asked and Rachel nodded.
"Yes, it's a quote from The Joker." Rachel responded with an annoyed sigh. "But it still applies, McKenna was never interested in becoming an agent anyway and besides, I still need to put food on my table and the benefit money I receive weekly isn't enough to cover most of my electronic equipment on the off chance that it gets stolen or damaged."
"Off course, how could I forget?" The Volus nodded in understanding as Rachel took another sip from her drink. "I have to go, customers are waiting." The Volus added before the vid chat closed and Rachel removed her headphones.
"No luck?" Joyce asked and Rachel shook her head.
"One of my more promiscuous agents is MIA when there's a serial killer on the lose who's targeting promiscuous criminals." Rachel sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "So no, I haven't had any luck, I swear if I wasn't paralyzed from the waist down I'd take care of this Ardat-Yakshi myself!"
"Yes but it was that line of thought that got you paralyzed in the first place." Joyce responded and Rachel frowned at being reminded of that fact. "And you needn't worry about paying for new equipment, your mother has been very helpful with that."
"Yes but my mother won't be around forever." Rachel responded as she finished her drink. "And I want to make sure that I'm financially stable before she does pass away." Rachel added as the waiter took their cups away. "Can we get a menu please?"
"Sure." The waiter nodded before walking off.
*meanwhile*
Back on the ship things were getting set up for the mercenary group's cover for their trip to the Citadel, namely traveling merchants, and things were going smoothly for the most part, however for one Quarian he had other things on his mind.
"How the hell do you spell this damn word again?" Sardir muttered under his breath as he typed away at his laptop, Nicholai was in the room going over the info that Ricky had compiled during the day and he looked up.
"Having problems with spelling?" Nicholai asked as he walked over to Sardir and he looked up. "What are you trying to spell anyway?" Nicholai asked as he leaned over, however the massive Russian couldn't help but raise an eyebrow when he saw what Sardir was trying to spell. "Haggis recipes? You do know that we're not setting up a Scottish cuisine stand right?"
"I know." Sardir commented with a shrug. "But I want to make up for my major fuck up during the meeting earlier and since Andrea's Scottish and all I figured I'd try my hand at cooking one for her."
"Even though you won't be able to taste it due to the fact that you and Andrea can't eat the same food?" Ricky chimed in as she walked over. "What the hell is Haggis anyway?"
"It's basically a sheep's stomach stuffed with meet and barley, Andrea described it as tasting like a weird hybrid of sausage and hamburger when she first told me about it." Nicholai responded as he turned to Ricky. "I've never tried it but since Andrea's lack of cooking skill is only equal to Sardir's perversion level she usually has Alicia cook it for her."
"Even though Alicia's Irish?" Sardir asked and Nicholai nodded. "I'd hate to imagine what her first attempt was like." Sardir commented as he shook his head. "Anyway I have the basic ingredients down but I don't exactly have much time to make a quick trip to a nearby butcher shop so there's that problem."
"I could go." Ricky volunteered and the two men turned to her. "My work for the day is done so it's not like I have anything else to do."
"I swear I'm going to make you my personal assistant one of these days." Sardir chuckled before handing her a data-pad with the recipe on it. "Now the butcher might have some premade but I'm not picky, if you get the ingredients separately so I can make it from scratch, well the results might end up being disastrous because I'm not used to cooking human dishes but if you get me something that I can just stick in an oven that'll be great."
"I'll see what I can do." Ricky responded as she pocketed the data-pad. "Whereabouts is this butcher shop anyway?"
"It's in the markets, there's an alleyway nearby that'll give you a shortcut to the shop." Sardir responded as he gave her the address, however Nicholai frowned as he thought of something.
"I'll go with Ricky." Nicholai responded as he took the list. "When I was on the Citadel two days ago the women mentioned some unsavoury types that prowl the alleyways and target young women in Ricky's age group, I'm sure I don't need to explain what those unsavoury types do to their victims."
"I can look after myself!" Ricky protested and Nicholai turned to her.
"Do you have any self-defence training, at all?" Nicholai asked and Ricky went to respond before pausing.
"Andrea and Alicia were going to teach me before Marcello blind-sided us with this mission." Ricky sighed in defeat and Nicholai nodded in approval. "I'm ready to go when you are."
"Let's go." Nicholai responded before the two mercenaries left the room.
"Why do I get the feeling that Nicholai is worried about the Ardat-Yakshi targeting her?" Sardir thought as he typed away at his laptop. "Nah, that's unlikely, that bitch has only been targeting criminals with active sexual history and whilst Ricky does get around quite a bit she is the only member of the crew besides me who never had a record in Citadel Space to begin with."
*meanwhile*
Whilst Steele's Bar and Grill had fallen under new management since Victor Steele's arrest two years ago it still attracted some of its old clientele because the food was just as good as they remembered it and whilst the new owners were apprehensive about them at first they were on their best behaviour most of the time.
And then there was Urdnot Yusk.
"Err, Mr. Yusk, sir?" The young bartender said sheepishly as the massive Krogan in front of him drank his latest drink, he had been at the bar for most of the day and as a result was very drunk, any other species would've been thoroughly drunk by now but Krogan could handle their drinks better than most of other species. "Don't you think you've had enough?"
"I'LL TELL YOU WHEN I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" The Krogan bellowed as he slammed his glass down on the counter breaking it. "And get me another!"
"I don't get paid enough for this!" The bartender thought as he started pouring another glass of alcohol for the massive alien, however unbeknownst to them the bar area was being monitored from one of the booths and the sole occupant was getting restless.
"Damn it! Where is she?" The Ardat-Yakshi thought as she monitored the bar, she was back in her skimpy outfit and was looking for her next planned target. "This isn't right! Karasara usually shows up by now! Unless that moron of a husband of hers has her tied up! Still I'm not leaving here empty handed." She thought as she looked down her list.
"Look buddy, I get it! You're a thirty year old virgin." Yusk commented as he drank his drink and the bartended was too nervous to correct him, little did they know that the Ardat-Yakshi was making her way to the bar area. "But me? I've slept with more women than your entire species has!"
"I'm…..I'm pretty sure that's impossible, even for a Krogan…." The Bartender trailed off as Yusk finished his drink.
"ARE YOU CALLING ME A LIER?!" The Krogan bellowed as he reached across the counter and grabbed the bartender by his collar just as the Ardat-Yakshi sat next to him.
"Okay, I've seen enough!" The nearby bouncer said as he suspended the Krogan with his biotics. "You're out of here Yusk! And you're banned for life!"
"You do realize that you punks will be long dead by the time that so called "life-time ban" expires right?!" Yusk scoffed as the bouncer's eyes narrowed.
"Relax babe, I'll take you home." The Ardat-Yakshi intervened and the others looked at her confused. "I'm a friend of his."
"You are?" Yusk asked and the Ardat-Yakshi stood on her toes to whisper in his ear.
"Play along big boy and I'll make it worth your while!" The Ardat-Yakshi responded with a seductive tone of voice and the Krogan grinned from ear to ear.
"Yeah, she's my drinking buddy." Yusk responded as he turned to the bouncer. "Let me go! Trust me, I'm in good hands."
"Yeah I bet you are." The bouncer said as he rolled his eyes before letting go of Yusk. "Get out of here! Both of you!" He added and Yusk left with the Ardat-Yakshi still grinning broadly, once he left the bouncer approached the bartender. "Are you okay?"
"I'll live, just a bit shaken up." The Bartender responded as he regained his composure. "You know, I could've sworn I recognized that Asari from somewhere."
"You haven't been visiting the strip clubs again, have you?" The bouncer asked and the bartender shook his head.
"No, nothing like that." He sighed in response as he looked towards the door. "I think I saw her on the news."
"What? You mean like that Ardat-Yakshi that's on the loose?" The bouncer asked and the bartender nodded. "It's probably nothing, there's gotta be at least a thousand Asari on the Citadel that look like her." The bouncer responded with a shrug.
"I hope your right because otherwise we could've stopped her rampage." The bartender responded and the bouncer nodded in agreement.